The Black Phone (rated “R”) by director Scott Derrickson was released on June 24th of 2022 making headlines when it was rated positively at 82% by Rotten Tomatoes. If somebody is looking for a good horror/thriller that isn’t stretched in the plot line, then this movie is something to look forward to.
The Black Phone is a narrative based on a 2004 short story by Joe Hill, who is known as the son of the horror author Stephen King, but clearly coming into his own. Derrickson wanted to use his middle school past in a 30-page story of the never-ending bullying on his block which happened in Denver, Colorado, in the late 1970s. His traumatic experience eventually went into three years of therapy where he would talk about his childhood.
The setting for this movie is Denver, Colorado in 1978 where a young 13-year-old boy called Finney and his little sister, Gwen, live in the suburbs. Finney has just lost a baseball game against his competitors, as the batter named Bruce compliments Finney’s pitch. They both go about their school days showing mostly how Finney acts in school, the average crush, schoolwork, and the classic bullies. However, the school bullies were brutal when beating up Finney in the boy’s bathroom, and that’s when another boy comes into the frame, a boy who was much smaller than the rest of the boys. He threatened the bullies to back off Finney and gave Finney a pep talk about how to handle the bullying. Finney is a boy who keeps to himself and is quite insecure when it comes to his appearance, personality, and the way he tries to defend himself.
As Finney walked home after school, he saw posters of a missing person, he then realized that the boy who was photographed was Bruce - the pitcher who had played against him. He became concerned since The Grabber was near his area and kidnapped somebody he knew. His home situation was also not the best, having an alcoholic dad who beats him and his sister whenever they make a mistake or talk about Gwen’s power that has yet to be revealed. During the night, Gwen is shown having flashback of Bruce’s life as she sleeps. The twist? Gwen doesn’t know Bruce. Suspense is built as the audience attempts to figure out why she is seeing Bruce’s flashbacks. The story is essentially a twisted coming-of-age for Finney as he attempts to overcome his insecurities and not hold himself back when good things come his way.
Throughout the movie, Finney must get help from multiple mysterious children who never show their faces. The primary antagonist is The Grabber, a villain who kidnaps and kills only young boys by playing a sick game with them. He must engineer elaborate escape plans and calculate the depth or the timing of The Grabber’s schedule. Finney’s storyline focused on his knowledge of The Grabber’s sadistic plans, but not knowing when he will finally escape or die. Gwen’s conflict centers around her fears about her brother being in captivity of The Grabber and having visions related to the missing people.
I watched this movie with my father. I love horror movies that are well thought out. I don’t scare very easily, but it was fun watching my father get scared by the big screen with his little shakes. We started watching it around 9 p.m., which helped to make the experience a little spookier. My father was clearly a little freaked outby the film: he had weird dreams related to the movie afterwards.
The movie was fantastic in my opinion, it wasn’t too unrealistic to the point that everything didn’t make sense or too gory to the point there was blood two-thirds of the time. I liked that the alcoholic, abusive father became softer and less angry after he found out Finney was kidnapped by The Grabber. He drank less as the movie progressed, because the moment Finney was gone, he began to realize how important his children were. It shows that the father is thinking about his children more than the viewers are led. I also enjoyed the mystery and trying to figure out who The Grabber was. My father said that The Grabber was two different characters, that’s why he has two different moods with two different masks whenever he talks to Finney. While I said that The Grabber was somebody who had a bipolar personality and that’s why he had two different masks for each of his personality.
This movie is sure to be a hit as Halloween approaches and we are all looking for a little thrill at the box office. It is an excellent mixture of suspense and horror with a plot that leaves viewers uncertain of the ending.
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